Validus Holdings, Ltd. Announces Pricing of its Initial Public Offering
July 25 2007 - 6:52AM
PR Newswire (US)
HAMILTON, Bermuda, July 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Validus
Holdings, Ltd. (NYSE:VR) announced the pricing on July 24, 2007 of
its initial public offering of 15,244,888 common shares at US$22.00
per common share. The shares will be listed on the New York Stock
Exchange and will trade under the symbol "VR" beginning July 25.
The offering proceeds will be used to repay interim financing for
the acquisition of Talbot Holdings Ltd., to support the future
growth of Validus Re and for general corporate purposes. Goldman,
Sachs & Co. and Merrill Lynch & Co. are joint book-running
managers for the offering. Co-managers for the offering include
Deutsche Bank Securities, JPMorgan, UBS Investment Bank, Wachovia
Securities, Cochran Caronia Waller, Dowling & Partners
Securities, LLC, Keefe Bruyette & Woods, ABN AMRO Rothschild
LLC, Scotia Capital, Calyon Securities (USA) Inc., Comerica
Securities, HSBC, and ING Financial Markets. The underwriters have
the option to purchase up to an additional 2,286,733 common shares
to cover over-allotments. A copy of the prospectus for the offering
can be obtained from Goldman, Sachs & Co. Attn: Prospectus
Department 85 Broad Street, New York, NY 10004 Fax: +1-212-902-9316
Email: or from Merrill Lynch & co. Attn: Prospectus Department
4 World Financial Center, New York, New York 10080 Telephone:
+1-866-500-5408. This press release shall not constitute an offer
to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be
any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which
such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to
registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such
state or jurisdiction. About Validus Holdings, Ltd. Validus
Holdings, Ltd. is a provider of reinsurance and insurance,
conducting its operations worldwide through two wholly-owned
subsidiaries, Validus Reinsurance, Ltd. ("Validus Re") and Talbot
Holdings Ltd. ("Talbot"). Validus Re is a Bermuda based reinsurer
focused on short-tail lines of reinsurance. Talbot is the Bermuda
parent of the specialty insurance group primarily operating within
the Lloyd's insurance market through Syndicate 1183. Cautionary
Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements The Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for
forward-looking statements. This release or any other written or
oral statements made by or on behalf of Validus Holdings, Ltd. and
its subsidiaries (collectively, the "Company") may include
forward-looking statements which reflect the Company's current
views with respect to future events and financial performance.
Forward-looking statements involve the Company's current assessment
of risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual events and
results and prospects to differ materially from those expressed or
implied in these statements. Certain information regarding such
risks and uncertainties is set forth in the Company's filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following:
unpredictability and severity of catastrophic events; the Company's
ability to obtain and maintain ratings, which may be affected by
its ability to raise additional equity or debt financings, as well
as other factors described herein; adequacy of the Company's risk
management and loss limitation methods; cyclicality of demand and
pricing in the reinsurance market; the Company's limited operating
history; the Company's ability to successfully implement its
business strategy during "soft" as well as "hard" markets; adequacy
of the Company's loss reserves; continued availability of capital
and financing; the Company's ability to identify, hire and retain,
on a timely and unimpeded basis and on anticipated economic and
other terms, experienced and capable senior management as well as
underwriters, claims professionals and support staff; acceptance of
the Company's business strategy, security and financial condition
by rating agencies and regulators, as well as by brokers and
reinsureds; competition, including increased competition, on the
basis of pricing, capacity, coverage terms or other factors;
potential loss of business from one or more major reinsurance
brokers; the Company's ability to implement, successfully and on a
timely basis, complex infrastructure, distribution capabilities,
systems, procedures and internal controls, and to develop accurate
actuarial data to support the business and regulatory and reporting
requirements; general economic and market conditions (including
inflation, interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates) and
conditions specific to the reinsurance markets in which the Company
expects to operate; the integration of Talbot Holdings Ltd. or
other businesses the Company may acquire; accuracy of those
estimates and judgments utilized in the preparation of the
Company's financial statements, including those related to revenue
recognition, insurance and other reserves, reinsurance
recoverables, investment valuations, intangible assets, bad debts,
income taxes, contingencies, litigation and any determination to
use the deposit method of accounting, which, for a relatively new
insurance and reinsurance company like the Company, are even more
difficult to make than those made in a mature company because of
limited historical information; acts of terrorism, political unrest
and other hostilities or other unforecasted and unpredictable
events; availability to the Company of retrocessions to manage its
gross and net exposures and the cost of such retrocessions; the
failure of retrocessionaires, producers or others to meet their
obligations to the Company; the timing of loss payments being
faster or the receipt of reinsurance recoverables being slower than
anticipated by the Company; changes in domestic or foreign laws or
regulations, or their interpretations; changes in accounting
principles or the application of such principles by regulators; and
statutory or regulatory or rating agency developments, including as
to tax policy and matters and reinsurance and other regulatory
matters such as the adoption of proposed legislation that would
affect Bermuda-headquartered companies and/or Bermuda-based
insurers or reinsurers. In addition, other general factors could
affect the Company's results, including: (a) developments in the
world's financial and capital markets and the Company's access to
such markets; (b) changes in regulations or tax laws applicable to
the Company, including, without limitation, any such changes
resulting from the recent investigations relating to the insurance
industry and any attendant litigation; and (c) the effects of
business disruption or economic contraction due to terrorism or
other hostilities. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly
update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result
of new information, future events or otherwise. DATASOURCE: Validus
Holdings, Ltd. CONTACT: Enquiries: David Haggie / Juliet Tilley,
Haggie Financial, +44-(0)20-7417-8989
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